Aneya: Lessons Learned from Living in Chile

Adios, Chile! Hola, USA!

Well, ladies and gentlemen, the time has come. I'll be leaving Chile for good on Monday. Yes, it's partly due to the robbery, and the fact I feel less safe now (not to mention I have no readily available money). And it's also just time to move on. It's sad, but true. Lauren and I were planning to leave in a few weeks anyway, I'm just speeding up the process. I've been thinking a lot about the past 6 months I've spent here, and about all that I've experienced, and most importantly, all that I've learned. Here's a few things I've discovered:

1. I'm not as good at languages as I thought: I've always thought of myself as someone who can catch on to a new language fairly quickly, who has a good ear, a fairly good accent. I learned French quickly in France, why wouldn't the same happen in Chile? Because in France I was 13, and here I'm 23. There's a major difference between learning a language as a kid and as an adult. Yes, my Spanish has greatly improved, but I'm definitely not fluent.

2. I need diversity to live. Diversity in all aspects of society. Racially, religiously, socially. Being in a country as homogenous as Chile has made me realize how much I love the States, just for the diversity of its people.

3. Kindness is relative. Lauren told me the other day she never realized how mean people were in LA until she came to Chile. And it's so true. People here (for the most part) are so warm, kind, compassionate, generous and it's heartening to see. It also makes you realize how rude people are in the U.S. (especially in LA).

4. After visiting Buenos Aires for a week, I came back to Chile with a new appreciation for it's public serves. The streets of Buenos Aires were filthy at night, open garbage bags spilling out onto the street. The buses and metros were older, rustier, and there was no such thing as a Bip! card, you had to use coins (and there was a national shortage of those) which was annoying and time consuming. Being in Buenos Aires reminded me of a what a clean, modern and efficient city Santiago is.

5. Just because people tell you it'll be easy to get a job, doesn't mean it's true. That is a lesson I learned the hard way. Everyone I talked to in the States, in the TEFL program I took, told me how easy it would be to find a job. "Just start speaking English and they'll hire you on the spot!" How wrong they were. Never take anything for granted.

6. I can survive an 8.8 earthquake and live to tell about it. This was another hard lesson to learn, since for a few weeks there Lauren and I were both super sad, lonely and scared. But we never once said we wanted to go home. We fought through our sadness, we joined the Red Cross, we helped where we could, and we moved on. I'm proud of us for that.

7. Being unemployed is fun....until it's not. We tried to make the best of our unemployment, and for a while, we did. We made separate trips to the South, we went to Temuco, we did little trips to Valparaiso, to Vina del Mar, we went to Mendoza, we discovered everything that Santiago had to offer. And then, there was nothing else to do. Our money was running out, and it was getting cold. That's when things slowed down, and we both wished more than anything to get a job. But it never happened. And that's when we realized that being unemployed....kinda sucks.

8. I realized that I cannot date anyone who has the following attributes: self righteous, condescending, misogynistic, self pitying, preachy, extremely stubborn (extremely anything, for that matter) small minded, can't think for themselves, easily influenced, and most importantly: I can't date someone who wants to fundamentally change who I am. Not. Gonna. Happen.

9. This one is really for Lauren: Don't talk to strangers! Just because they look normal, or they look like they need help, doesn't mean you need to be "nice" and talk to them. Just ignore them. It may sound mean, but it can help you avoid ugly situations (such as crazy gypsies attacking you). In other words: Trust no one.

10. And last, but not least. Never, I repeat, NEVER put anything valuable in backpack, in a large city, in any kind of public transportation. If you insist on using a backpack, turn it around so it's facing the front of you (you'll risk looking an idiot, but that's fine. I looked like even MORE of an idiot when my bag was stolen). Also, never let your guard down. Not for ONE minute. Not even when you're exhausted and hungry and completely out of it. Stay alert. As Mad-Eye Moody liked to say "Constant Vigilance!"

All in all, these past 6 months have been an emotional roller-coaster, to say the least. I honestly came to Chile with no expectations, I had no real knowledge of the country and its people, no real agenda (apart from getting a job and exploring). I never would have imaged half the things that happened, both good and bad. I met some amazing people, I experienced both beautiful and sad things, and I lived to tell about it all. What I loved most about this trip has been this blog. It's been our baby, and we nurtured and cared for her as best we could. I hope you all enjoyed reading it, because I truly loved writing it.

Thanks for reading, and so long, for now!

-- Aneya